In the latest row over air capacity in the South, the former Environment Minister, has goaded David Cameron, by asking if he was "man or mouse." Tim Yeo has urged the Prime Minister to approve expansion at Heathrow.

He insists the environmental objections to a third runway are disappearing. He also claimed backing the move would give the Government a "sense of mission".

Boris Johnson's proposed Thames Estuary airport Credit: ITV Meridian

But the scheme remains a controversial one - with Conservative London Mayor Boris Johnson also opposing a third runway. Instead, he continues to push for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme it "would be difficult" for her to sit on a Cabinet that supported a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

A senior Tory MP has goaded David Cameron over the expansion of Heathrow airport, urging him to decide if he is "a man or a mouse.

Tim Yeo, the former environment minister, insists that environmental objections to controversial calls for a third runway are disappearing and claimed backing the move would give the Government a "sense of mission".

In a stinging attack Mr Yeo, who chairs the Commons Energy Committee, questioned whether the Prime Minister would preside "over a dignified slide towards insignificance" and suggested the leader's heart was "impenetrable" to most voters

A BA airplane arriving in Belfast after a flight from Heathrow Credit: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA Wire

The Heathrow residents group Hacan has claimed the group of MPs who are proposing a third and fourth runway at Heathrow are ‘fighting the tide of history’. Tomorrow a group of Conservative MPs are expected to call for two more runways at Heathrow to stimulate the economy.

Hacan Chair John Stewart said: “These MPs are fighting the tide of history if they believe it is possible to build one, let alone two, new runways at Heathrow. All the political parties have recognised the difficulty of expanding Heathrow and are officially opposed to a third runway.”

The Civil Aviation Authority revealed earlier this year that 725,000 people live under the Heathrow flight paths - 28% of all people disturbed by aircraft noise across the whole of Europe.